Anna L.
About me
| Anna L. | |
| Philosophy | |
| Philosophy | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Langwith | |
| 2010 | |
| Poland |
My employment
| Translator & online marketer | |
| KeyCheck Translation | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Small business (0-49 employees) | |
| 2011 |
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A day in the life of a Translator & online marketer in the United Kingdom
My career goals when I graduated
Wasn't sure what to do with myself.
My career history
2013-now, Leeds, Polish search marketer at Search Laboratory
2011-now, Leeds, freelance translator (though I started translating part-time in 2007)
2008-2012, Poppleton, York, Polish search marketer at WebCertain Semantics.
What has helped my career to progress
A lot of hard work and meeting helpful people off- and online.
Courses taken since graduation
MA Applied Translation Studies
How my studies have helped my career
Thinking logically is a must when trying to express yourself clearly. Shame some clients miss this point, though.
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I would like to have enough work to support my family by myself.
My advice to students considering work
If you want to work with languages, make sure that your grasp of grammar, punctuation and spelling is excellent. Also, do lots of business planning, do your research, think and rethink what you're doing and look around you for professional business advice and information on how to handle clients and complaints.
I'd also recommend attending events organised by professional bodies, such as CIoL and ITI and specialist conferences - it's a good idea to specialise in a niche early. Read about the industry, get hold of translation rate reports and state of industry reports, register with websites such as ProZ.com... There is plenty of opportunities to learn more from people around you and a lot of information is available for free.
My advice about working in my industry
See above.
What I do
My job is a typical one-man show in that I am my own boss, exec and cleaner. I have to think about contacting potential clients and winning them over, paying taxes, keeping my desk clean and, by the way, doing all the actual work.
Regarding the content of my work, you never know what may come up next. From police interviews to children's animations, marketing materials, wedding vows, a full feature film and dog food bag labels - I can expect anything to come up and I love this variety.
How I started my business
After doing a master's degree in translation it was an obvious choice to start working as a freelancer.
What inspired me
The vibrant and endlessly helpful online communities full of professional advice and support. Twitter, Facebook groups, LinkedIn and ProZ all make it easier to do this job.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Translation using CAT tools (MA and gradually growing experience), online marketing - PPC & SEO (thanks to working part-time for several online marketing agencies in Yorkshire), time and project management (BA, MA, experience), web development (learnt it in private time), social media (gradually growing experience), client management (gradually growing experience)
What I like most
I love fiddling with words and punctuation marks. Some clients are simply a pleasure to work for. I also love the variety of the work and the strong online community.
What I like least
Sometimes it feels like I'm banging my head against the wall. The industry is spoilt by people undercutting legitimate rates, agencies try to take more than their fair share for project management and it is often difficult to get the right work/life balance.
What would I change? If I could change one thing - it would be people's attitudes towards the industry. Most people think that translation is something you should get for free: bang it in Google Translate, click and get the equivalent in another language. Real human translators spend hours and hours honing their skills. When you pay a translator, that's what you pay for - like with any other business service.
Sometimes being self-employed makes you feel very lonely, too.
What surprised me most
How much support there is online and how much different translators' careers developed in different ways, taking them to unexpected places.
Next steps...
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